BGR exclusively reported in March that Research In Motion was working to bring its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform to Android smartphones and the iPhone. Now, images that purportedly show a beta version of the chat application running on an Android device have been leaked by TechRadar. Reportedly, the app is set to launch on Android before next year and RIM is already in the final stages of testing the solution. The leak lines up with BGR’s original report that RIM would develop an Android client before an iOS version. In addition, BGR reported that RIM will likely limit the features of BBM on iOS and Android in an effort to woo users who want a more robust BBM experience back to a BlackBerry. RIM has plenty of stiff competition in the chat space, however. Applications such as Kik, Skype-owned GroupMe, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger all offer similar features and are available across multiple mobile platforms, and Apple’s iMessage service will launch this month with iOS 5. Hit the jump for a second image that provides a better look at the UI.

UPDATE: As pointed out by a tweet from Chris Parsons, it appears as though the image used in the screenshot below was pieced together from a marketing shot posted by RIM in August. More →

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and seven other privacy groups have contacted the U.S. Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate Facebook for “secretly tracking users after they logged off of Facebook’s webpage.” A 34-page complaint filed by EPIC asks for an injunction, investigation and “other relief” from the social network. EPIC said Facebook is home to more than 60 billion photographs and alleges it developed its “tag suggestions” feature to collect data on Facebook users “without knowledge of consent in order to develop facial recognition technology.” The complaint specifically states:

Given these extraordinary circumstances, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, The Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, urge the Commission to investigate Facebook, determine the extent of the harm to consumer privacy and safety, require Facebook to cease collection and use of users’ biometric data without their affirmative opt-in consent, require Facebook to give users meaningful control over their personal information, establish appropriate security safeguards, limit the disclosure of user information to third parties, and seek appropriate injunctive and compensatory relief.

EPIC’s letter also details how the social network violates its own terms of service and shows how hard it is for a user who has been tagged in a photo to delete the original image which, in most cases, is owned by somebody else. EPIC wants Facebook to create a detailed privacy program and to immediately suspend its face-tagging feature. More →

Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha has noted his company’s intentions to launch a 7-inch tablet a number of times, and images of the device may have just broken cover. This is my next leaked a photo of a white tablet on Monday that, if compared to the size of the unknown phone in the background, appears to sport a 7-inch form factor. A Motorola Mobility logo is slightly visible on the top-left of the tablet and there are two I/O ports on the bottom, presumably microUSB and HDMI-out. It is possible this is an Android Honeycomb tablet, although that is still unconfirmed. It is also still unclear when the tablet will be announced, if ever, or what kind of hardware it packs under the hood. More →

A newly leaked marketing render of HTC’s upcoming Omega Windows Phone shows off one of the popular vendor’s first Mango-powered smartphones. BGR exclusively reported on Monday that HTC will be announcing multiple Windows Phones at a special event on September 1st. One will be the HTC Eternity, headed to AT&T in the near future, and another will be the T-Mobile-bound HTC Omega, pictured above for the first time. Pocketnow.com published the image on Thursday, and claimed that the phone could launch with the name “HTC Radar.” Omega, of course, is likely to remain a codename. Earlier rumors suggested that the Omega will pack a 1.5GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and an 8-megapixel camera. Rumor also suggests the device will include a 3.8-inch display, though our report indicated a 4.5-inch display size. Judging from the image above, 3.8 inches seems entirely more likely, which could mean that AT&T’s Eternity will sport the monster 4.5-inch screen we’ve been hearing about. We’ll all know for certain when HTC unveils both phones next Thursday. More →

A new image of what is claimed to be an actual iPhone 5 handset emerged today, perhaps giving us our first look at Apple’s fifth-generation smartphone. Posted by MacRumors forum member guigsh, the image shows a slender smartphone that looks even thinner than Apple’s current iPhone 4 model, jibing with reports that the next-generation iPhone could be just 7mm thick. “Picture taken yesterday in the office of a French operator. Believe it or not,” the forum member said. He continued in a separate post, “We were able to see it only 2 minutes, pictures forbidden of course, so, we did our best.” As far as details about the device itself are concerned, guigsh added, “The only thing I can tell you, is that my iPhone 4 looks really slow now.” Of note, the image shows a device that looks strikingly similar to the Chinese counterfeit “iPhone 5″ we saw in images and a video recently, but it looks much more refined. This could mean that the Chinese clone pictured earlier was indeed based on Apple’s actual design as BGR and others speculated, or it could mean that this is just another fake from the same manufacturer.

UPDATE: The image is said to be fake, first posted here by a Twitter user. Thanks, Ron. More →

Facebook is set to launch its own iPhone photo-sharing service that will compete with the likes of Instagram and Path. Tech Crunch has obtained 50MB worth of data about Facebook’s project, including documents and actual images of the work in progress. The service is being called “WithPeople” or “Hovertown” internally, and it’s possible that it will be launched as a built-in feature to Facebook’s existing iPhone app or as a separate application entirely. Judging from the leaked image, we definitely see a resemblance to Path, particularly with the layout of the image previews. It certainly looks like a faster and more interactive way to view your friend’s Facebook photos though, so we’re excited to hear more about this project. More →

Tapbot just lifted the veil on Tweetbot, the firm’s newest iOS Twitterclient. We’ve been using the client for a bit now and it’s definitely pretty versatile; it supports multiple accounts, as well as multiple timelines. So when we wanted to quickly pull up a specific list, we just had to tap the “Timeline” title at the top to quickly switch. The app offers “smart gestures,” too, which means you can triple tap a tweet to reply or swipe a tweet from left to right to view messages you’ve exchanged with that person. As with most Twitter applications, you can post your location, share photos, videos, manage lists, and more. Tweetbot also includes push notifications with support for Boxcar. We like the fast user interface, but wish that it supported active links within the timeline. The app currently forces you to click a tweet and then launch an embedded link. Otherwise we’re pretty pleased with Tweetbot so far. It’s available for $2.99 in the iTunes App Store and is supported on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Hit the jump for a link. More →

RIM is currently prepping two new non-touchscreen additions to its Curve line this year, codenamed the Apollo (GSM) and Sedona (CDMA). On top of that, the company is said to be working on a full touchscreen Curve, appropriately dubbed the Curve Touch. Now, to confuse matters even further, BlackBerry enthusiast blog N4BB reveals an image of what it purports to be the BlackBerry Orlando — which is apparently just like the Apollo and Sedona, but with the addition of a touchscreen. No further details are available, which makes an unveiling of the Orlando in Orlando next month unlikely. Don’t fret though, BlackBerry fans, as we’re sure RIM will have a fewothersmartphones to show off at BlackBerry World. More →

Just ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC), blog Phandroid has acquired and image of what appears to be the LG Optimus 3D. The new handset will purportedly be a 4+ inch, dual-core, Android handset with a glasses-free 3D display. The report states that the Optiums 3D will use multi-channel RAM and from the photograph we can see the presence of a front-facing camera. Not too shabby looking to be honest. LG has a press event scheduled for February 14th, where the company has said it will take the Optimus “into the new dimension.” Your friends at BGR will be at MWC to bring you all the latest and greatest happenings from your favorite smartphone vendors. Who’s ready for mobile devices that utilize the third dimension? More →

Today, at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Paypal’s Laura Chambers indicated that an update to her company’s iPhone application, that will allow users to deposit checks by photographing the front and back of the tender with their Apple smartphone, is due “in the next day or so.” The ability to deposit checks via scanned images has already been implemented by some traditional banks, however PayPal will be one of the first companies to implement the feature into a mobile application. More →

Want to see what the mysterious T-Mobile G2 looks like? Good, because this semi-blurry spy shot was sent into Engadget. You can see the devices full-QWERTY keyboard — which has that Touch Pro 2 look about it (minus the dedicated number keys) — optical trackpad, and T-Mobile branding. The screen looks to be in the 3.7 to 4-inch range and appears to have a dedicated camera button. Let us know what you think! More →

Photo enthusiasts take note, as Adobe is rolling out the official retail version of Lightroom 3 today. Available as a public-beta since October 2009, the latest, official version of Lightroom features a brand new processing engine that improves performance and offers an enhanced, easier to use UI. Noteworthy features include: support for DSLR video files, improved noise reduction, lens correction and sharpening tools, and tethered shooting (with select Nikon and Canon cameras). Lightroom 3 is available for both Macintosh and Windows systems with a price point of $299; an upgrade licences retails for $99. You can grab a copy of this latest offering directly from Adobe today, or from a third party retailer in the near future. More →